


we always dream paradise

by H0locene



Series: it is this possibility of you [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Friends With Benefits, Friends With Benefits With Feelings, Idiots in Love, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, disaster bi lin beifong, in which lin explains away all possible signs of romantic feelings, kya's favourite pastime is winding lin up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27712085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H0locene/pseuds/H0locene
Summary: A short glimpse into Lin and Kya’s arrangement, in which Lin is definitely not falling for Kya and this is a completely casual friends with benefits relationship.Set several years before it isn't lust; it’s all the restTitle taken from the poem: dreaming of lesbos, by Tatiana de la Tierra.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Series: it is this possibility of you [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012233
Comments: 20
Kudos: 140





	we always dream paradise

There’s only one reason Lin ever finishes work on time.

She tries not to make it look like she’s hurrying. Because that would be false. She’s  _ not _ hurrying, because she’s not desperate, because that would be  _ pathetic _ .

Her old partner and longtime friend, Saikhan, raises an eyebrow at her as he stops in the doorway to her office.

“You’re leaving early,” he comments. Lin refuses to acknowledge him, tidying her desk away and grabbing her jacket in a perfectly calm manner.

“Hot date?” he questions as she pulls her hair from her collar. Lin scoffs at him and rolls her eyes as she brushes past him, pulling the door to her office shut and locking it with her key.

“None of your business,” she tells him, but there’s no bite to it. She likes Saikhan. Unlike the rest of her underlings, who she’s pretty sure are betting on the reason she leaves early.

None of them would ever guess.

“Goodnight, Cap,” he calls as she heads for the exit. Lin throws a short wave over her shoulder as she (calmly) leaves.

It’s been several months since Kya was last in the city. Sure, there have been others, but none of them quite make her feel the way that Kya does. Physically, that is. Because Lin carries no romantic notions towards Kya, nor any of the other partners she spends her nights with (although she struggles to recall exactly  _ when _ the last time was she spent a night with someone else).

But it’s not just the sex. Lin finds Kya’s company enjoyable, hearing about her travels as they eat takeout and sip wine. The waterbender knows Lin is not the best at taking care of herself.

_ “Need to keep your stamina up for what I’ve got planned,” _ she’d often say teasingly.

She walks home, and starts absentmindedly humming. The weather is perfect; the sun will start to set in an hour, but its warmth will linger a little longer yet, and the heat is offset by a slight breeze. This week hasn’t been too bad, all things considered, and to finish it off with an evening (or more, depending on how long the older woman was in town for) with Kya is definitely how she wants to spend it. Maybe she can convince the waterbender to dine out tonight.

* * *

Kya’s sat on the sofa when Lin gets home, her hair pulled up messily as she fills out the day’s crossword. The radio is on low, and she’s humming softly to herself. She’s clearly made use of the key Lin left for her the last time she stayed. There’s an empty cup sat on a saucer in front of her. She looks at home, and Lin’s heart does a funny swoop. She frowns, confused for a moment, and then shrugs it off.

“Hey,” Lin greets, bending off her armour and setting it on the stand where she keeps it. Kya looks up at her and smiles softly. Lin’s stomach twists.  _ Must be hungrier than I thought _ .

The older woman sets down her crossword and throws herself at Lin happily. Unsurprised at her friend’s exuberance, Lin catches her with an  _ oof _ and wraps her arms around the older woman. She’s found that ever since they’ve begun their arrangement, Kya’s been a lot more touchy-feely. More surprisingly, she’s found that she doesn’t mind, and even kind of welcomes it. Lin burrows her nose into the juncture where Kya’s neck meets her shoulder, and her nose is immediately filled with lavender, sage and salt. She holds her a little tighter for a moment, before releasing her.

“It’s good to see you,” Kya says softly, smiling down at Lin. Lin’s filled with the sudden urge to kiss her, so she puts some distance between them.  _ What the hell, Beifong? _

“I’m gonna grab a shower, then did you wanna head out to eat? It’s too nice a day to pass up.”

“Linny,” Kya smirks at her. “Are you asking me on a  _ date? _ ”

Lin scowls at the older woman and stalks off to her bedroom, wondering why on Earth her cheeks felt warm.

* * *

She re-emerges, with a nice button up shirt on. It’s because it’s her favourite, and she likes the feel of it. Kya’s still on the sofa, her legs tucked up underneath her, filling out her crossword once more. Except, there is the addition of a bouquet of camellias sitting innocently next to her.

“Where’d the flowers come from?” Lin asks as she walks to the mirror over the fireplace. She double checks that the pins in her hair are set correctly.

“The stall across the street,” Kya answers vaguely. Lin rolls her eyes, and sighs.

“Okay,  _ why _ are the flowers here?”

“For our date,” comes the cheeky response. Lin’s cheeks are red at this point.

“It’s not a date. And those are your favourite flowers,” she points out.

“Of course they are,” Kya completely ignores the first part of the sentence. “Are you wearing perfume?”

Lin stiffens, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t ask one,” Kya counters smoothly.

Lin turns around, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Why are your favourite flowers on the sofa?” she asks tiredly. Kya grins up at her.

“For you to give me. For our date.”

Lin groans, tipping her head back. Her stomach feels a little fizzy as Kya laughs. They really should get going, or she’s going to start feeling faint.

“It was very sweet of you, really,” Kya continues, rising gracefully from the sofa. She presses a warm, lingering kiss to the metalbender’s cheek, her lips brushing the edge of Lin’s mouth, and Lin finds that she very suddenly wants to forget about dinner. Without thinking, her hands reach out to grab Kya’s waist, her fingers digging into the material.

“ _ Patience _ , Chief,” Kya purrs, a smug smile on her face. The evil woman revels in pushing Lin’s buttons and the younger woman briefly wonders why she lets her. 

“ _ Assistant  _ Chief,” Lin mutters, a little too late to be smooth.

Kya chuckles, spins out of Lin’s grip and heads back to the sofa. She plucks a flower from the bouquet, delicately snaps the stem, and tucks the flower into her hair. “Shall we go?”

* * *

By the time they leave the bar, it’s dark out. They’re both a little buzzed from the drinks they’ve had; enough to loosen Lin up a little, but not even close to drunk. Normally, she has her guard way up at this time of night, knowing what lurks in the shadows, but something about the alcohol and Kya’s presence lowers the volume on the paranoia that buzzes in the back of her skull. Kya’s telling her of the prank she played on Izumi during her last visit to see the Fire princess, but she’s giggling too hard for it to be coherent, and the melodious sound rings around Lin’s ears. The older woman is so wrapped up in her story that she doesn’t notice the wooden telephone pole she’s about to walk into, and Lin smoothly scoops up her hand to drag her away. Kya stops for a moment, and smirks at the metalbender as she tangles their fingers together.

“If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask,” the older woman teases, laughing again. 

Lin feels her cheeks begin to heat, and tries to snatch her hand away, but Kya holds onto it tight, her grin softening into something almost shy. Lin must’ve drunk more than she thought, because the alcohol in her stomach starts to burn, in a not-unpleasant way.

Silence falls for a few moments, as they cross the street to cut through the park.

“I had a good time tonight,” Kya says softly. “Thanks for suggesting we go out for once.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” replies Lin, smirking, “the night isn’t over.”

Kya hums, a toothy, hungry smile of anticipation tugging at her lips, as she nudges her shoulder into the younger woman’s.

“This is very romantic of you, though,” Kya teases slyly. “Buying me flowers-”

“I did  _ not- _ ”

“-taking me to dinner, walking me home through the park, giving me your jacket to ward off the cold-”

“I haven’t-” Lin looks up at Kya, a scowl on her face. “ _ Surely _ you’re not cold. You spend half your time at the South Pole.”

Kya shrugs, shooting Lin a sideways glance. The younger woman stops abruptly, huffing, and tugs off her jacket, placing it roughly around Kya’s shoulders, grumbling all the while about dressing appropriately for the weather. 

Kya presses a lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Thank you, Chief,” she murmurs, a dark but teasing note in her voice.

Lin scowls again, looks about furtively and snatches Kya’s hand into hers, before marching off in the direction of her apartment.

Kya’s laugh echoes through the park.

* * *

As she returns from the bathroom, Lin can’t help but smirk smugly at the sight before her. Kya has hardly moved since she left, sprawled on the bed with a dazed look on her face.

“Mmm,” the older woman shifts slightly so she could look at Lin. It takes a couple of attempts for her eyes to focus on the metalbender, whose smirk only grows. Kya pouts at her.

“What are you doing all the way over there?” she asks demandingly. “Come cuddle me.”

Lin huffs a laugh and readily acquiesces, climbing into bed and easily pulling the taller woman to settle on top of her. Kya hums contentedly as she nuzzles her face into Lin’s neck.

“That was new,” she murmurs against Lin’s jaw, nipping lightly. The younger woman bites back a smile.

“Picked up a couple tricks while you were gone,” she replies nonchalantly, her fingers reaching up to loosely tangle in Kya’s hair. “You a fan?”

Kya nods, and there is silence for a moment. The tension in the air thickens, and Lin knows from past encounters that Kya is gathering her bearings to return the favour. Soon enough, the older woman lifts herself from Lin’s body, and there’s a rush of cold in the space where she previously lay. Lin shivers, and she’s not sure if it’s because of the sudden coolness of the air, or the hungry look in Kya’s eyes.

“You’re not the only one who picked up new tricks,” she murmurs huskily, before lowering her mouth to Lin’s.

* * *

When she wakes in the morning, Kya is gone, and the flowers are too. Lin can’t help the small sprig of disappointment that springs up inside of her, but she  _ can _ quickly quash it because disappointment would constitute feelings, and she doesn’t have feelings for Kya, so she wouldn’t be disappointed that the older woman is gone. 

Glancing at the time, Lin groans and forces herself out of bed to start preparing for work. She idly wonders if she might let Kya convince her to take some vacation and go to Ember Island with her again as the summer approaches.

As she’s about to leave the apartment, she notices that her jacket is crumpled up on the floor where she’d shoved it off Kya’s shoulders as they entered last night. She sighs, bending down to grab the jacket and hang it up. That’s when she notices a pink camellia pinned neatly to the lapel. She stifles a smile as she unpins it and leaves it on the kitchen countertop.

(It’s only that evening, as she puts the resin-cast bookend on her shelf, that she realises she might be running out of excuses for the way Kya makes her feel.)

**Author's Note:**

> come scream at me about kyalin: holoceneatla.tumblr.com


End file.
